TV Remotes Are Rapidly Evolving

Previously, we’ve explored the future of TV remotes. Various manufacturers are attempting to develop new ways to
experience on-screen television content, because, as The Verge’s
editor-in-chief Nilay Patel describes
it, “navigating TV interfaces [is very difficult].”

Vizio, a home entertainment company based in Irvine, Calif., recently allied
with Google to investigate how to modernize remote controls.

"We’re navigating from remotes that were invented in
the 1950s. That needs to be dynamited," said Matt McRare, chief technology
officer for Vizio. “The answer is to get rid of the remote control as a device
category. Any screen should be a remote control."

Vizio and Google have invented the Vizio Tablet Remote,
which comes with the 2016 P Series of television sets.

It’s essentially a 6-inch Android tablet, which allows the user to control TV
settings via a “SmartCast” app, as well as cast programming and videos from
Netflix and YouTube directly onto the TV. No more buttons.

"Vizio understood the power of bringing the
interaction model to the second screen," Mario Queiroz, Google VP, stated.
"They understood the ability they would have to build a lot of experiences
you couldn’t build on the first screen."

In the video below, Patel demonstrates the product, calling it “the most
integrated implementation we’ve ever seen of cast, discovery and hardware.”

Meanwhile, Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) has partnered
with Comcast to investigate its own brand of remote control. The cable company
could potentially spend $1 billion on the technology.